Service with style

Interior design firm's mantra: Cater to clients' wants

For Anita Lang, being a business owner wasn't just an option. It was the only option.

Hailing from a family of entrepreneurs and business owners, the principal of IMI Design believed starting her own company was the natural first career step.

"Of course you own your own business," said Lang, who launched her Scottsdale interior design firm in 1992, chuckling. "That was the family thinking. I didn't think you did it any other way."

But for anyone who presumes the young designer jumped into the industry brimming with confidence, Lang recalls her situation a little differently. She started out in a 400-square-foot space in Fountain Hills and sublet half of it to another vendor, worried about generating enough revenue to stay afloat.

Blessed with a natural talent for design and a strong belief in the Golden Rule, Lang quickly developed a client base. She was able to afford her entire facility on her own and eventually moved into the 4,000-square-foot Scottsdale studio where she currently works. She also has a satellite office in Truckee, Calif., to serve a growing number of clients in the Lake Tahoe area.

"I saved and started small. I worked a lot," Lang said. "I'm really lucky I got to do this as my career."

Lang's firm specializes in luxury residential and commercial interior design and, with a team of LEED-accredited designers, has been recognized for its sustainability work. IMI Design has won 31 Arizona North Chapter of the American Society of Interior Design awards, more than any other firm in metro Phoenix.

Lang uses different materials so clients will have a positive emotional reaction to their space. When working with two of her Lake Tahoe clients, brothers whose respective families had different personalities, Lang got to know them and used that knowledge to create homes that would best suit them.

One family liked nature-inspired environments and historic references, so Lang used a lot of reclaimed wood. For the other family, who preferred contemporary designs, Lang incorporated sleeker finishes, a stained concrete floor and a steel kitchen countertop in a trapezoid shape.

The same philosophy applies to her commercial projects, where she capitalizes on light, temperature or materials to create a specific vibe for clients, their employees and customers.

"I believe in the power of design to affect the human spirit in a positive way. It's about understanding clients, who they are and what makes them feel good," Lang said.

When Norma Wredberg and her husband wanted to remodel the kitchen and great room of their Scottsdale home last year, the couple interviewed a handful of designers before hiring Lang, whose ideas they felt aligned best with their vision.

Wredberg said they are "thrilled" with the results. She excitedly described the contemporary update to her kitchen, which includes cabinetry made with horizontal-grained wood interspersed with a white lacquer -- a unique combination that she said was unexpected but impressive.

"It came out looking so glamorous. It makes it look like a gorgeous entertaining room, not like a kitchen," Wredberg said.

Of the designers with whom Wredberg had worked, she said working with Lang was the most pleasant. She cited Lang's ability to work within her budget and find more economical alternatives when necessary, as well as to listen.

"A lot of designers try to talk you into their idea instead of listening. Anita was a very good listener and came up with what we wanted," Wredberg said. "What she promised, she delivered."

The daughter of German immigrants who arrived in the United States as teenagers with $36 to their names, Lang loves telling the story about her father and mother landing in their new country knowing no English.

"He came over with a sign that read, 'I don't know how to speak English. Help me find my relatives,' " Lang said. Her father, then 19, met her mother, then 17, in a German refugee camp.

He became an engineer who would own his own business. Watching her parents work hard while she was growing up taught Lang to do the same.

"Understanding a good work ethic came from my parents. They know how to put in a 12-hour day and not blink," she said.

Eventually, Lang's family moved to Phoenix, a city that her father deemed as paradise.

In 2006, IMI founded The Inspire Foundation, a non-profit that provides complimentary design work for community organizations that cannot afford it. Lang rallies her network of trade partners, vendors and other clients to create and implement the design. This year, the Foundation for Blind Children's Chandler branch is the recipient.

Lang is also working on a furniture line crafted by a local manufacturer. There are 35 pieces, with contemporary designs and exotic woods and metals. She hopes to release the line by the end of the year.

Lang's diverse portfolio and word-of-mouth referrals helped her survive the recession, which forced her to reduce her staff to five from 12. Now, she is looking for her eighth employee.

"My whole team worked really hard. We cut out every unnecessary expense and got really lean. I'm a stronger businesswoman for it," Lang said. "Now, as business is picking up for us, I'm excited that we are in a better place to be more profitable than had I not gone through that learning experience."

Her financial savvy also extends to clients and their wallets.

"We have a mantra. We take care of clients, using their money as you would use your own," Lang said. "They want to know that you can solve their problems and they can trust you. People saw that about us, and we take care of them."

IMI Design

Where: 8355 E. Hartford Drive, Suite 100, Scottsdale

Employees: Seven

Interesting stat: More than two-thirds of interior design firms are owned by women, according to the American Society of Interior Designers.